Picking Your Pet

If you had to pick only one kind of creature as a companion for your future life, what would you pick? The traditional cat or dog? The slightly less common bird, fish or rabbit? What about a lobster, like Nerval, or an ermine, like Cecilia Gallerani? What’ll it be?

You honestly can’t expect me to pick just one! 😉
I guess a cat, because at bottom I am a cat person. My shoulder-cat, in particular: https://jubilare.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/tabasco/ her loss still aches. I will not meet her like again.
I love so many kinds of critters, though, that it’s a hard sell. I would love to have a crow as a companion, or a horse, or a little brown bat… the list could go on forever.

She’s the only one I’ve ever had, and I think it was because, when I got her, she was only about a week old. Her mother had been hit by a car… So she was tiny-wee, and had to be bottle-fed. This created a strong bond, and also meant that she grew up quite secure in her ability to perch on me. This was aided by the fact that she was never a large cat. I was the only one she would ride on, though. She was never lap-cat material, and I think if she hadn’t been hand-raised, she would have been one of those cats (like Sunshine, the other kitty we had when Tabasco was little) who come occasionally for petting, but generally prefer their own company. 😉
I have lived with 5 cats over the course of my life so far, and every single one of them has been very different from all the rest. I currently have a placid, demanding lap-cat and a miniature polar-bear who seems to be autistic, if that is possible for cats.